It’s a record that few thought would ever be broken. Only Fontaine he was a French striker who scored 13 goals in the 1954 FIFA World Cup, and nobody has really come close in the 72 years since. Even with modern legends of the game, including Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane in top form, nobody thought any of them could score so many goals this summer.
However, some of the big names have had the best possible start to this year’s World Cup. Messi threw down the gauntlet in Argentina’s first match of the tournament, scoring a hat-trick against Algeria. But there are others who have also already recorded multiple goal kicks, and now fans are checking out the latest Trusted Sportsbook Reviews to find the best betting site for Golden Boot odds.
Even after just one game played by all the teams, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane had scored two goals, with the promise of many more. Other strikers have also scored a brace, and there is now plenty of excitement for this year’s Golden Boot winner to not only take home the award, but the record as well. These big forwards have a lot of tournament experience and are usually the focal point of their teams, but even the big ones have struggled to get more than a handful of goals in recent times. No Golden Boot winner since 2002 had bagged more than six before Mbappe scored eight in Qatar four years ago.
One caveat to the goal-fest we’ve already started to see in this tournament is that Just Fontaine managed his record in just six games. A team that reaches the final this year will have played eight. This gives the likes of Lionel Messi an even better chance of breaking the record. An expanded tournament has also meant that some of the world’s best strikers can face weaker teams than usual. Although a performance like Cape Verde’s against Spain shows that nothing is guaranteed at the World Cup.
However, one big name that seems unlikely to claim the Golden Boot this year is Cristiano Ronaldo. He has won almost every game apart from one World Cup and still held a place in Portugal’s starting line-up in their first game against DR Congo. But the game icon based on Saudi Arabia it looked badand many pundits and fans have now said he should make way for a younger player if his team is to have any chance of winning the World Cup this year.
Ronaldo may be out of contention, but there are a host of other big names who look set to finish the tournament with plenty of goals to their name. We may be about to finally see one of football’s irrefutable records broken.
